Mayors undecided on SoRDS agency
The Southland Mayoral Forum is yet to reach a consensus on the proposal for the new Southland Regional Development Agency.
The plans for the new entity, which is being set up to drive the implementation of the SoRDS strategy, are being considered by the mayoral forum committee.
Documents from May 24 have revealed the plans to create a new council-controlled organisation that would incorporate the current Venture Southland staff.
The new organisation would include a range of new stakeholders from the business and the wider community, and would be run by a newly appointed ‘‘skillsbased’’ board.
While the councils would still provide the bulk of the funding towards the new entity, the board would operate it independently.
When asked whether the Invercargill City Council supported the current proposal for the new entity, Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt declined to comment.
Shadbolt said at the time he could not locate the relevant documents, and did not want to speak on the issue without having all the facts at hand.
Mayoral forum committee chairman and Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks last week said the view of the majority was ‘‘very much aligned’’ with the current proposal, with three of the four council representatives in agreement.
Hicks said the fourth council had requested further time to consider its options.
He said he had ‘‘every confidence’’ that an agreement would be finalised by the end of June.
While the proposal would still have to be put to the councils after going through the Mayoral Forum, there was ‘‘definitely a commitment’’ to the current plan from the Gore District Council, Hicks said.
‘‘The concept and direction of the proposal is definitely something we’re in behind.’’
Southland District mayor Gary Tong said the Southland District Council was in support of the current proposal.
‘‘Three of the councils are very focused on going forward – I can’t comment on what others will focus on.’’
The disruption caused by the local government elections in October 2016 had contributed to the delay in the establishment of the new organisation, Tong said.
‘‘It has taken longer than I had envisaged it taking.
‘‘I know there has been criticism but I feel that those criticisms are unfounded.’’
While the plan was still very much ‘‘just a proposal’’ at this stage, he welcomed the increased focus on the tourism sector, Tong said.
‘‘Tourism is a big part of Southland, and there needs to be a coordinated approach to that.
‘‘We need people on planes coming down here.’’
Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell said the new entity would have a big effect on the future of the region.
‘‘Environment Southland is right in behind the proposal,’’ Horrell said.
‘‘The SoRDS team has been running these projects since the launch, but now we’re getting to the point where we need to take it over from SoRDS.’’
The formation of the new agency would create some exciting opportunities for the region, Horrell said.
‘‘There’s potential now to include private enterprise, and huge potential to get more funding from central government.’’
While there would be benefits for the whole region, Invercargill in particular stood to gain a lot, he said.
‘‘At the end of the day, it will be about Southland, and it will be very good for Invercargill especially – as it will be a hub for projects going forward all over the region.’’
A final decision on the proposal is expected to be made at the end of this month.